The accused backpage.com murderer’s mother and close friend testified Thursday they had no suspicions that he committed the acts before his arrest.

Caroline Brown took the stand at the trial of her son, James C. Brown, 25, of Sterling Heights, who is accused of killing four west-side Detroit women in the basement of his home after meeting them via the web site.

Caroline Brown was believed to be home at the time the murders took place in two separate but similar incident six days apart in December 2011. But she said she didn’t hear or see anything on Christmas Eve when her son allegedly killed Natasha Curtis, 29, and Vernithea McCrary, 28, in the early morning hours.

She said she spent all day and evening cooking for the holiday.

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“You can see people going in the basement from the kitchen,” she said.

She said she went to bed about 1 a.m. Christmas Day. That is about the time that her son took transported the bodies -- which police believe had been in the basement for many hours -- in McCrary’s vehicle to the east side of Detroit where he set it on fire.

She agreed with a statemetn by her son’s attorney, Jeffrey Cojocar, that she didn’t notice “any unusual noises or activities coming from the basement” on that night, and that she could easily hear activity in the basement of the ranch-style home, often hearing music and telephone conversations.

But that was contradicted by William Bryant, a close friend of James Brown, who said under questioning from Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Therese Tobin that he could not hear any noises in the basement when he spent time in an upstairs bedroom while Brown was in the basement with a woman.

“It’s a big home,” he said.

Killed in the first incident, Dec. 19, was Renesha Landers, 24, and her cousin, Demesha Hunt, 25, whose bodies were found in Landers’ Chrysler 300 near Chalmers and Outer Drive in Detroit. Curtis and McCrary’s bodies were discovered in a trunk of McCrary’s Buick LaSabre in the same area, where Brown was raised before moving to Sterling Heights.

The women died from asphyxiation. Brown is charged with four counts of first-degree, premeditated murder, punishable by life in prison without parole, and four counts of mutilation of a body.

Bryant, 33, who has known the suspect since childhood, testified in the fall of 2011 he and Brown rendezvoused with three women they met through backpage.com at Brown’s home, where they paid for sex. He added Brown arranged the meeting.

Bryant said Brown often came to his apartment to play Play Station 4, drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. They saw a news report about the incidents, and they noted that the area where the bodies were found would be a good place to dump bodies because of abandoned homes, Bryant added.

Brown’s remark about changing his phone number didn’t raise any suspicions with Bryant, he stated.

“I wasn’t thinking that way,” he said. “I told him there’s no law against going on the web site.”

Bryant said he noticed around that time that Brown had a scratch on his cheek, broke his glasses and had wrapped an injured hand. Brown told Bryant he suffered the scratch and broke his glasses after rolling over onto the spectacles while sleeping. Brown said he injured his hand at work, Bryant said.

Prosecutors are expected to contend that Brown was injured and broke his glasses during a struggle with at least one of the victims.

Brown’s mother testified her lack of attendance at the trial, which began early this month, was not related to her support for her son.

“When the situation happened, I was under attack by the news media,” she said. “I’ve really been fearful coming here and what I would be facing. … It has nothing to do with the love for my child.”

As she walked off the witness stand, she gave an air kiss to her son.

The trial is scheduled to continue Friday in front of Judge James Biernat Jr.